11 Amazing Chapter Books to Read Aloud to Your Kids

Watch my Good Things Utah segment on read-alouds for kids here:

Reading aloud to your kids is just about the best thing you can do for them. It not only helps them academically (more than private tutoring or private school), but helps you forge a more lasting connection with them and gives them the gift of being a lifelong book lover. I could not more enthusiastically recommend The Read Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids and The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction for parents who want to create a reading culture in their home.

These are just a handful of the books we’ve read aloud at home and enjoyed as a family. All of these are great audiobooks too:

1. Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards

I was delighted to learn Julie Andrews (yes, Mary Poppins!) writes children’s literature. This was a sweet story of an orphan girl who finds and fosters an abandoned cottage. My daughter and I read this when she was in second or third grade and it felt like escaping the hectic world we live in and finding our own spot of calm and simple joys.

2. In the Beautiful Country by Jane Kuo

This new release is a story of a young Taiwanese girl who makes a new home in America with her family, but things aren’t as wonderful as she hoped. Her home in America is much smaller than the one she lived in in China, and she’s made fun of for some of the things that make her who she is. This is written in verse, so it makes for a great read aloud.

3. When You Trap A Tiger by Tae Keller

A 2021 Newberry Award winner and the #1 bestseller in Children’s Asian Literature on Amazon as I write this, When You Trap A Tiger is a beautiful story steeped in Korean Folklore of a girl who must use the help of a magic tiger to unlock the power of stories and save her grandmother.

4. The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

I’ve loved this book for a long time. There are a lot of WWII novels out there, but this one stands out. There’s a sequel, too!

5. Holes by Louis Sachar

We listened to this one on my son’s Yoto Player and read along, then watched the movie afterward. A classic!

6. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

I’m always happy to claim Shannon Hale as a local (to me) author (I even met her in person once and only fangirled a little). She’s one of the best children’s writers to ever live, in my opinion. You may know her from The Princess Academy or Austenland. Goose Girl is fairytale retelling and a book I continue to recommend to everyone.

7. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

I heard Lois Lowry speak at a recent writing conference and ate up every word she said about writing and life. She really has a beautiful mind, and her stories are bestselling classics for a reason. (The also wrote The Giver, among others.) Number The Stars, a story of a Jewish girl in Copenhagen during WWII, was one of my first favorite books as a kid.